Ana Navarro: Smollett’s Story ‘Read Believable’ — ‘Unimaginable to Anybody that It Could Be a Hoax’

Ana Navarro told her co-host Friday on ABC’s “The View” that actor Jussie Smollett’s fake hate crime story “read believable” to many people.

Smollett was found guilty of five of six counts of felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.

Co-host Joy Behar said, “Yesterday former Empire star Jussie Smollett was found guilty of orchestrating a fake hate crime, he had told police he was jumped and beaten by men shouting homophobic slurs and claimed they put a noose around his neck. Two brothers who were also, his trainers testified that he paid them to help stage the crime. Now Smollett faces up to three years in jail. He’s still sticking by his story. But tell me what do you make of the way this played out?”

Navarro said, “When it first happened, I think it was unimaginable to anybody that it could be a hoax. Frankly, you know, I think that for a lot of us it read believable that there could be hate crimes because there are hate crimes against minorities and against LGBTQ. The big message that should come out for everybody, out of this is it should not deter people who are the real victims of hate crimes from reporting them.”

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